What are hydrogen fuel cells?

A hydrogen fuel cell is essentually a device that converts chemical energy from hydrogen and oxygen into electrical energy and produces an electrical current. It is similar to a battery in that it has an anode and a cathode. However, a battery is only capable of storing power, whereas the fuel cell can generate it, so long as hydrogen, the fuel, is being supplied. As such, the fuel cell system also has similarities to an internal combustion engine, except that it operates very efficiently at low temperatures and with minimal moving parts. In the process of electrochemical conversion to create electricity, the only by-products of the fuel cell are water and heat.

A cell is basically made from 3 parts. There are the anode and cathode that are the electrical points of the circuit, The proton exchange membrane that will only conduct the protons released from the hydrogen and not the electrons. Seperating the Proton exchange membrane from the anode and cathode are catalyst layers usually of Platinum.The protons are conducted through the membrane to the cathode, but the electrons are forced to travel in an external circuit (supplying power) because the membrane is electrically insulating. On the cathode catalyst, oxygen molecules react with the electrons (which have traveled through the external circuit) and protons to form water.

The technology of fuel cells has been well researched and developed, although for economic and political reasons, they have not been widely implemented in the same way technologies like broadband Internet have become a part of our day to day life. Such a clean power source, as part of a widespread hydrogen economy, guarantees less dependence on the dwindling supplies of fossil fuels, creates less greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change, and does not explode or malfunction as frequently as engine-driven electricity.

An independent hydrogen supply, as from a tank at a station, doesn’t need to be the sole source of fuel in a fuel cell. In fact, one can run on rotting organic material, like vegetation, because that gives off hydrogen, too. Or hydrogen might be separated from oxygen out of water, through electrolysis, by solar or wind power. If water is used as a source of hydrogen, the fuel cell is practically immortal, as it continues the cycle from water to hydrogen to water.